The DC Real Property Database: For Serious Buyers

• June 25th 2010

by Joe Marhamati

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The DC Real Property Sales database can offer a good deal of value for home buyers in the District.

By simply entering an address, one can find out a wealth of information about a single-family home, row house or condo, including assessed value, jurisdictional information (e.g. ward, neighborhood, and sub-neighborhood), owner name, and total land area. In addition, it provides a breakdown of the most recent sale date and price, building type, style, square footage (when available), year built, number and types of rooms, as well as information on air conditioning, heating, and even number of fireplaces. This is all information kept by the city for purposes of tax evaluation, and made available to the public for purposes of transparency.

The database is regularly updated whenever ownership of a property changes hands in the city, and when updated tax information is available. It also allows users to see if certain properties are receiving the Homestead Exemption and lists the tax payments for the last four years. If all that isn’t enough, the Real Property Sales database allows you to pay your property taxes through its web-based service.

What makes this tool so powerful is the ability to perform essential due diligence on a home before buying it. Knowing the assessed value, how much a property previously sold for and when, the price per square foot and other basic specs can allow a buyer with interest in multiple properties to compare and contrast with ease.

Even if you have no interest in using the database for home buying purposes, with a bit of Googling you can see William [Jefferson] Clinton’s name in his property’s field.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_dc_real_property_database_for_serious_buyers/2203.